"C" is for Child (cont.)

Time for another Tully update.  He is 16 months old and has 16 teeth.  All four eye teeth have pushed through and are on their way in.  Next up?  Two-year molars!

Words: hot, hat, ball
Signs: hot, hat, cat, airplane, more, please, where is it? (palm up, questioning look on face, usually in reference to the ball)
Sounds: vroom (car/truck), moo

Signing/saying duck and mama have pretty much stopped.   He still gets really, really excited about the puppy, but sometimes he just points, yells, and smiles instead of signing.

He has learned to fake laugh.  He knows when the time to laugh is, but he makes it really loud and obnoxious.   Like he knows what he is doing is funny, so he repeats the action and fake laughs at himself.

He knows where his nose is and will sometimes point to ears, if asked, too.

He is following simple commands (put the ball in the basket, bring your shoes to mommy).  I'm hoping this continues and he is helpful when the new baby comes!

When I tell him it's time to go, he follows me out the door to the garage and goes to the car door where his car seat is located.  For the longest time I always had to carry him to the car, and I was starting to wonder how I would possibly get both kids, my stuff, and their stuff loaded in a reasonable amount of time.  Life is much easier with him walking and following simple commands, since it gives me two free hands.

The baby gate was secured to the staircase on one end with zip ties (classy, I know...), and they popped off.  We didn't get the gate put back up right away, so it has stayed down.  It's awesome because we don't have to open and close it every time we go up and down the stairs, and Tully really only goes upstairs or downstairs when we do.  He's always been a good, steady climber too, so I've never really worried about him falling.  I think we'll leave it down for a while.

He is on a fantastic sleep schedule.  Also, we're able to put him in his crib before bedtime, and he goes to sleep on his own without a peep.  We never really "sleep trained", but we did slowly move away from nursing to sleep or rocking to sleep, so he could go to bed on his own.  He transitioned from two naps to one (12-15 months), so here's how our day looks now.

7:15 - 7:30 awake,  he "reads" small board books in crib, sits and talks quietly to himself
7:30 start day
11:35 read book to him, wind down
11:45 in crib
11:45 - 12:00 he falls asleep
1:30 - 2:30 awake, he "reads" small board books in crib, sits and talks quietly to himself
7:15 give him a bath
7:35 read book, wind down
7:45 in crib
7:45 - 8:00 he falls asleep

Tully weaned sometime after 15 months.  I could write an entire post on what an emotional roller coaster that has been for me, but after having him squirm out of my lap and vigorously shake his head "no" a million times, it's safe to say he is finished.  I've dealt with nursing strikes before, but this time was definitely different.  Although I'm sad (understatement of the year), weaning has provided some freedom.  We have multiple trips to Texas planned, along with my work trip to DC, so Tully will be spending quality time at Grammy's pool this summer.  We're stacking on all of the Tully-free trips we can before the next baby comes!

Tully started half-day school this fall.  Here he is at 16 months ready for his first day.  (Good job hiding mommy's almost 5-month bump with your knee, T.)  Grammy was here to share in the excitement and take some pictures.

Pick-up was scheduled for noon, but they called me just after 11 to let me know he was melting down.  He had a fantastic morning playing, but it was getting close to lunch and nap time, so I got him early.  After a quick diaper change and lunch in the car, he went to sleep at his normal time as soon as we got home.  I'll probably have to pick him up at 11 for a few weeks until he adjusts to the new school schedule.  He is definitely the youngest in the pre-primary class (2-3 year olds), but I think he is fine, developmentally.  He just needs to catch up to the big kid schedule of taking a nap at 12:30 or 1, and I'm sure school will be less overwhelming and tiring as the year progresses.  Today was a big, big day!

Below is the picture the teacher, or guide, as they call it, sent me today of Tully doing "work".  Part of the way they teach at the Montessori school is for the kids to choose their own "work" from a shelf.  They take it to a table or the floor to practice a skill (moving objects, counting, matching, etc.) and then clean up that project before picking another.  Tully runs around like a mad man at the house from one toy to the next most of the time, so it's always good to see him sit down and focus on one thing.  Way to go, little guy!

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